Friday, August 08, 2008

Normally I wouldn't really care who won the Democratic primary in Tennesse's 9th district, but normally candidates who run against popular and progressive incumbents and compare them to the KKK aren't backed by major Democratic interest groups like Emily's List. Tonight's primary wasn't normal.

Freshmen incumbent Steve Cohen, a Jewish white male (this comes up later), was being challenged by corporate attorney Nikki Tinker, a Christian African-American female. The Tinker campaign deployed absolutely appalling campaign propoganda, including trying to link Cohen to the KKK in ads, criticizing him for clapping in "our churches" while not representing "our values," and was associated with the following flyer.

I don't much care for Nikki Tinker. Even more astonishing, though, was that Emily's List, a formerly reputable Democratic group, was backing Nikki Tinker. Good call there, Emily's List.

Barack Obama even jumped into the fray to decry Tinker's ugly tactics, saying "These incendiary and personal attacks have no place in our politics, and will do nothing to help the good people of Tennessee. It's time to turn the page on a politics driven by negativity and division so that we can come together to lift up our communities and our country."

Fortunately, the good citizens of TN-9 nominated Cohen over Tinker with a whopping 79% of the vote last yesterday. Congratulations to Rep. Cohen, shame on Nikki Tinker, and tsk tsk to Emily's List.